Surprise! Detroit Lions have NFL's easiest schedule

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions lost two starters in the span of three days, following a season-ending knee injury to Jason Jones and a freak car accident that broke Nate Burleson's forearm in two places.

Not the ideal way to enter a battle for the NFC North lead Sunday against the unbeaten Chicago Bears (3-0).

Lions coach Jim Schwartz might have an easier path through the season than originally thought.Associated Press

But there is a bit of luck on the Lions' side: They were expected to have the second toughest schedule in the NFL, but instead have what is shaping up to be one of the easiest.

Detroit's opponents combine for a 17-31 record through three games, tied for the worst winning percentage (.354) in football. The Seattle Seahawks also face teams that are 17-31.

It's early, of course, and schedule difficulties will retrench over time. But the Lions' path to the playoffs certainly doesn't seem as cumbersome as it once did -- especially with a win against mighty Chicago. Detroit already is tied with Dallas for the fourth-best record in the NFC, and don't play another unbeaten the rest of the way.

But coach Jim Schwartz said this game doesn't offer any extra significance for Detroit, even though it's against a division rival, offering essentially a two-game swing in the standings with a win or loss.

"It's too early to be thinking about stuff like that," he said. "We just came off a tough road win (at Washington). Next game is a NFC North team at home, and all those games are important. It is important for us to get back home after being on the road for a couple weeks.

"You can't worry about standings this time of year. All you have to worry about is improving, correcting your mistakes, finding out what you're good at, those kinds of things and continuing to progress."

Detroit's wins have come against winless teams, so the Chicago game -- and that Bears defense, which forced five turnovers and scored twice last week -- would seem to be a better barometer for this team's outlook.

The Bears already have a league-high 11 takeaways overall, and scored three defensive touchdowns.

"They're punching the ball out. (Cornerback Charles) Tillman wears the double wrist braces and just goes in there swinging and tries to knock the ball out. He does a great job. ... That's what they do, they try to force turnovers with physical and smart play."

Chicago mustered comeback wins against Cincinnati (24-21) and Minnesota (31-30) before beating Pittsburgh (40-23) over the weekend. It is one of seven remaining unbeaten teams, three of which reside in the NFC.

None of which Detroit must face after Chicago.

The Lions' schedule suddenly seems so manageable in part because they play five of the NFL's six winless teams -- and Minnesota twice. They already beat the Vikings and Washington Redskins, and still get games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and Minnesota again.

That's helped soften what looked like a brutal slate at the outset. Detroit's opponents went a combined 138-118 last year, which trailed only the Panthers' 138-116 opponent schedule.